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The Partners

Thank you to our supporters:

Planning Committee Members:

Roger Gilles is Sue’s husband and will be making the ride along side her. Roger will ride his three-year-old Kona bike, purchased at Village Bike Shop in Grand Rapids. It has an impressive squeaky dinosaur, of which he is very proud.

Bob Johnson is an avid and experienced road bicyclist who lives to ride. Bob’s using some vacation to make sure we get safely to Chicago and will be our go-to guy if the weather turns bad, the drivers turn wicked or the hills too steep.

Janine Lim is Instructional Technology Consultant at Berrien RESA in Berrien Springs, MI, and has worked to bring Sue’s books to kids along the Lakeshore for the last five years. Janine is the perfect contact to help pick schools from from St. Joe, Benton Harbor and the surrounding area.

Sue Porter and Connie Solis (not pictured) are retired from the Kent Intermediate School District, where they worked on distance learning, among other things. When she’s not traveling the world, Connie creates the state-wide REMC newsletter. Sue is a consultant with Polycom (videoconferencing solutions) coordinating videoconferencing Special Events for K12 and TWICE (Michigan’s distance learning organization).

Sara Schneider is a recent graduate of the University of Michigan. She currently her own media company, Saradipity Media. Her love of media and literature led her straight into the hands of Sue. Sara has helped Sue maintain and update her online presence while helping to manage the Tillie Ride.

Melissa Leitch is a well-known multimedia artist and one of the costume mistresses at the Grand Rapids Ballet. Melissa has offered her services to re-create the bicycle costumes Tillie wore.

And of course, all the schools, teachers, and community members who have made the Tillie Ride a possibility!

Meet Sue!

Sue Stauffacher is a prolific and passionate writer whose work has covered every genre in children’s literature, from picture books and independent readers, to literary and graphic novels. Her books have earned starred reviews from Kirkus, School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and the Bulletin.